


And the Crickets Singing

by fanfoolishness (LoonyLupin), LoonyLupin



Series: Starshine Over Beach City: Moments from Steven Universe [9]
Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Episode: s02e23 Steven's Birthday, Family Bonding, Friendship, Gen, Summer
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-24
Updated: 2019-11-24
Packaged: 2021-02-17 23:16:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,235
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21551392
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LoonyLupin/pseuds/fanfoolishness, https://archiveofourown.org/users/LoonyLupin/pseuds/LoonyLupin
Summary: Pearl and Greg share a talk about Rose, and Steven, and the stars on a breezy summer's night.  Directly following "Steven's Birthday."
Relationships: Greg Universe & Steven Universe, Pearl & Greg Universe, Pearl/Rose Quartz (Steven Universe), Rose Quartz/Greg Universe
Series: Starshine Over Beach City: Moments from Steven Universe [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1523993
Comments: 9
Kudos: 126





	And the Crickets Singing

Crickets chirruped in the blue dark of an August night, their songs a delicate symphony. Pearl had always appreciated them and their intricate music. Endless summers long ago she and Rose had listened to them together, debating on if the insects’ music contained language or meaning. Ultimately Rose had decided that the existence of their song was meaning enough. Pearl smiled sadly at the memory. It was Rose all over.

She gazed out at the open space beyond the barn, spying Steven laughing with Connie and Amethyst, Garnet watching approvingly in the distance. She was grateful Steven was Steven once again. His brief regression yesterday into an infant had been terrifying for all of them, but in typical Steven fashion, he seemed to have shrugged it off. How did he do it? How did he move past these things so quickly? She wished she knew how to ask him.

She realized there was someone missing. She traced a perimeter around the barn and found Greg sitting on the roof of his van, looking up at the night sky. She hesitated, then tapped a gentle knock on the hood.

“Are you all right, Greg?” she asked.

Greg sat up, startled. “Uh, yeah, yeah. I just needed a minute.” He swung his legs over the side of the van towards her, but couldn’t seem to meet her eyes. She immediately regretted having come up to him. Amethyst or Garnet should talk to him instead. Still, though, she was here now. 

“We’re all glad Steven is back to normal,” Pearl tried. She crossed her arms, looking at her feet. “He had us all so worried.”

Greg chuckled a little. “Honestly I wasn’t sure I could do the baby years again. Steven was a really good baby, but they were still exhausting, and I’m not getting any younger. Unlike my son, apparently.” He paused. “Want to come up? There’s room. You can see the stars a little better up here.”

Pearl flushed, glad it was dark. She debated telling him goodbye and returning to the others. But she looked up at his face, seeing worry and unease written in the set of his mouth and the lines between his brows.

“I do miss the stars,” she said softly, climbing up on top of the roof and sitting down near him. Her feet swayed out and in, creating a gentle aimless rhythm. “At the temple sometimes I like to watch them from the shore. I think Rose thought it was foolish of me. She was so glad to be away from them, and here on Earth instead.”

“She _never_ thought you were foolish,” said Greg. He folded his hands in his lap. Moonlight edged his cheeks and the bridge of his nose, glinting off his head and his graying hair. “But I know what you mean. She said she loved my songs, but that space wasn’t all it was cracked up to be.” He laughed a little. “She didn’t even understand that expression at first. She thought it was something to do with broken eggs.”

Pearl giggled before she could help herself. “Yes, she always went for the silliest explanation possible, didn’t she?” But thinking of Rose was still so painful. Her memory was an agony throbbing beneath the joys and triumphs, tainted by a jealousy that shamed her, and Pearl fell silent.

“Sometimes I don’t know what we were thinking,” said Greg in a voice so soft she almost didn’t hear him. She glanced at him from the corner of her eye. He had taken his gaze from the stars and back to Steven, spinning in circles with Connie and Amethyst. Steven was the first to fall down, laughing uproariously and holding his stomach with both hands. Amethyst shapeshifted into a ball and rolled circles around him while Connie jumped up and down. Garnet seemed to be keeping score in their game.

“What do you mean?”

“How fair were we to Steven, really?” Greg rested his head in his hands. “He’s scared Connie’s going to grow up without him, and she’s worried too. I thought I could help her feel better, human to human, so I told her ‘we’ll have to wait and see.’ I guess Steven overheard me and -- that’s what set this whole shapeshifting thing off.” He swallowed thickly, sniffing. “What if he lives as long as Gems do? What if he doesn’t grow? Pearl, what if he doesn’t fit with humans _or_ Gems? Rose and I didn’t even think to worry about stuff like this. And now she’s not even here --”

Pearl fought back a flash of anger, but greater than that was a wave of grief as fresh as ever. She stifled a sob. “She wanted him so badly,” she whispered. Tears blurred her vision, and she swiped them away with a trembling hand. “But we don’t know what will happen to him, either. We just -- we’ve been trying our best.”

“I know,” said Greg. He rubbed at his nose and cleared his throat. 

For a moment, she saw him again as that young human, brash and reckless, who had stolen Rose away. But the vision faded, and he was Steven’s father once more, worried for his son. 

“It means a lot to me,” he said. “That he has you guys to help him.” 

A blush warmed her cheeks unexpectedly. “Oh, but he looks up to you so much,” said Pearl. “Remember his terrible picture of you and the guitar? Clearly he idolizes you.” 

Greg laughed. “Guitar Dad! Aw, man, I loved that drawing. He’s such a _good kid_ , Pearl. That’s why this stuff freaks me out. He doesn’t deserve it.”

“No,” she agreed sadly, “he doesn’t.”

Greg flopped back on his back, his legs dangling over the side of the van. Pearl carefully laid down near him, the field of stars above them widening. 

“But that’s growing up,” said Greg. “That’s what Rose said she loved about humans. That we change.”

“She changed, too. More than you know,” Pearl murmured. The stars shone above her, Homeworld’s system twinkling far beyond them. “I suppose we all have, here on Earth.” Overhead, a comet streaked across the inky black, alight in blue and white.

“Change is... really hard. It hurts, sometimes.”

“Sometimes, a great deal.”

The cricket song swelled, a wordless chorus in the summer night, and Pearl smelled green grass, raw earth, a hint of autumn as a promise on the breeze. She closed her eyes, remembering.

“Thanks, Pearl,” said Greg. “For listening.”

“Oh!” said Pearl. “Well, I --

“Dad! Dad, check this out! Look what I found!” Steven called. Greg sat up.

“My fatherly duties await,” Greg chuckled. The lines of worry between his brows seemed to have faded. “Thanks again.” He slid off down the hood of the van, brushing himself off. “All right, kiddo, what have we got here?”

Pearl sat up and watched him go, seeing the way Steven’s face glowed with excitement as Greg approached. He grabbed his father by the hand and led him to his discovery, Connie and Amethyst trailing behind them. 

At the edge of the clearing Garnet caught her eye. For a moment they gazed at each other. Then Garnet held out her hand, forming a thumbs-up.

Pearl took a deep breath, a trembling smile spreading across her face. She held out her own hand, thumb pointing up, and the cricket song was sweet in her ears.


End file.
